she -a poem

She is
Sun bathing
Water oceanic
Ocean in water.
Bark turned paper
Writing herself.
Earth clutched under a blue dome,
Thrust revolving amidst dark universe.
She is
In it-
A root,
A stem,
A seed
A flower
A tree.
A traveller weary
Relaxing in its own shade.

-Look! You are an intruder-

© Copyright by tina rathore

Celebrating Women’s day. (re)writing his/herstory- women then and now.

we celebrate women’s day on the 8th of march every year. wonder! we never celebrate men’s day? Simon De Beauvoir would sure have wanted to ask the question just the way she stated in her controversial & seminal book The Second Sex “man defines human not woman”/” woman always has to state that she is a woman first and then human whereas men are just human”. but to ask questions women had to learn to live their individuality.

“thank god i was not born a woman”
these are the opening lines of a Jewish male morning prayer. men thank god for bestowing upon them the privilege of serving Him(God). these lines become clear in the lines by John Milton where he says “He for god only, she for god in him”. the assumption that man’s purpose in life is to serve god and women’s is to serve him relegates women to a second position (thus called second sex), next only to man. doesn’t the thanksgiving of the Jewish males stand apropos of the pleadings of a woman when she sings “ab jo kiya ho data aisa na kijo, agle janam mohe bitiya na kijo”?

women have always been placed second, in terms of psycho-analytics the one who is lacking( the absence of phallus). They had to assert their authority to make their existence felt, to bring themselves to life as individuals and not as the best halves(or may be the worst) of men. women had to fight for themselves and hence have to  what they have achieved with tears, sweat and long silence.

today women walking shoulder to shoulder with men have become a common symbolic sight.( though it still doesn’t stand true for most parts of our country). women today have learnt to live themselves and their freedom. she is not fighting to come in equal terms with their men folks as she did in the past because she is not equal to men, not above them either..she is different and she has now learnt to live this difference.

let’s no more celebrate women’s day because we have to assert our equality, because there is still a battle to be fought against male chauvinism and patriarchy.lets not celebrate it by aggressively adopting the very values that have for centuries oppressed women, by equating women empowerment by equating it with ‘doing things that men do’. lets celebrate it for a cause of mankind by making women aware what it truly means to be a woman.

if only

If Only

if only we could capture time
and put it behind bars
if only, if only
we’ll meet again
behind the noose.

if only we could capture time
and write it behind words
if only, if only
we’ll meet again
behind the pages.

if only we could capture time
and paint it behind colours
if only, if only
we’ll meet again
behind the canvas.

if only we could capture time
and bury it behind our backyard
if only, if only
we’ll meet again
behind our shards.

if only we could capture time
and murder it behind the arena
if only, if only
we’ll meet again
behind the masks.

© Copyright by tina rathore